Category: Bread, pastry and pasta

As I had some of the muḥammaṣ grains left, I decided to put them to good use to make another Andalusian recipe, this time from an anonymous collection, which hails from the same century (13th c.) as The Exile’s Cookbook.

The recipe is a variant of one for making ‘cooked rice’ (أرزّ مطبوخ, aruzz matbukh) but which could also be used for itriyya (إطرية, ‘noodles’) or fidaw(i)sh (فداوش) — the ancestor of the Spanish fideos (a vermicelli-type pasta), as is done for the re-creation. The author explains that fidawsh could refer to dough in the shape of long wheat grains, round like coriander seeds (in the Bijāya region), or sheets as thin as paper. The second type is very similar in size to the historical muḥammaṣ, and thus allowed me to use up the remainder of my batch.

The recipe is also unusual in that it makes use of a bain-marie. The semolina pellets are put in a pot (a bowl works well too) with milk which is placed inside a container (the recipe mentions a copper cauldron) filled up with water halfway. The mixture is left to cook, without stirring, while the milk is topped up if it dries out. The cooking continues until the pellets are done and dissolved in the milk. Butter is also added at an appropriate point. The dish is served spread out on a platter or shallow bowl, and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, as well as another dash of butter.

A similar recipe is still made today, and in Algeria is known as ‘barkūkas(h)‘, but also bears some resemblance to the sweet Tunisian couscous, masfouf (مسفوف).

It may also be the ancestor of the medieval European classic the frumenty (a corruption of the French froment, ‘wheat’), a sweet porridge made with wheat, milk, cinnamon and sugar.

A thirteenth-century recipe from The Exile’s Cookbook. Though wheat was the grain of choice, millet was also used frequently by Andalusians: indeed, the author tells us that “of all the non-wheat breads, this is the most prized among Andalusians, and they eat a lot of it when it is millet-harvesting season in their country.” Besides millet flour, salt and water are added to make a dough which is then shaped into round loaves, which can be either thick or thin. To round things off, sprinkle on sesame, aniseed and fennel seeds.

A wonderful savoury biscuit, made with a dough including flour, water, yeast, olive oil, and fennel seeds. Shape the dough into small rings and then bake. Very easy to make and delicious — what’s not to like? And if you think that the result reminds you of something, you’d be right; the biscuits are probably the medieval ancestor of the Italan fennel taralli!

This is the Andalusian variant of today’s qatayif, which is a folded crepe with a filling of cream or nuts especially associated with Ramadan all over the Muslim world. Recipes for this type of crepe can be found in a number of cookery books. The one recreated here is from a 13th-century Tuniso-Andalusian treatise. The typical feature — then as now — is that the batter is cooked on only one side.

The word qatayif — though the linguistically correct spelling is, in fact, qata’if (قطائف) — is the plural of qatifa (قطيفة), which denoted a kind of cover to be wrapped around the body when sleeping. This type of qatayif was called mushahhada, which is derived from shuhd, meaning ‘comb honey’.

It starts off with semolina, hot water, yeast and salt. Once you have a batter of the desired consistency, it is dropped into a pan in the form of small round crepes. Once little holes appear on the top, i.e. the uncooked side, remove them, and put in others. The batter can also be added with some salt and milk, if needed. Once you have finished the batch, serve the crepes in a bowl and pour on boiled honey mixed with clarified or fresh butter. Finally, sprinkle on pepper, cinnamon and sugar, and then enjoy!

The present-day qatayif are usually deep-fried after stuffing and then drenched in honey or syrup, though there is an unfried stuffed variety, known as qatayif asafiri (قطائف عصافيري), which translates as ‘the sparrows’ qatayif‘. The Andalusian preparation here is actually closest to the modern Moroccan pancake, the baghrir (بغرير), known in Tunisia as ghrayef (غرايف), which is eaten without a filling, just dipped in butter and honey.

This recipe from 13th-century Muslim Spain is a whimsical twist on a popular dish in that period and region, the isfiriyya (اسفريا), a kind of omelette. This particular variation is known as ‘counterfeit’ (مزوّرة, muzawwara), because it uses chickpea (gram) flour to make something that looks like isfiriyya. Gram flour is widely available now, but for the purists, this is how you can make it yourself from scratch (which is both cheaper and more fun, anyway!): pound chickpeas, remove the skins and grind. For the batter, add eggs and yeast, as well as some fennel seeds and other spices. The mixture is pan-fried into a thin cake, like a crepe. Serve with honey or a melted cheese mixture — an irresistable delicacy that will make you come back for seconds!

There is an interesting historical coda, as these pancakes appear to have received a second lease of life in Italy, where they are known as farinata, primarily associated with Liguria and Genoa, which is (wrongly!) credited as being its birthplace. It is also found in other Italian regions, under different names, like cecina (Tuscany), while along the French Riviera it appears as socca. Interestingly enough, its only modern avatar on the Iberian Peninsula is the national dish of Gibraltar, calentita.